Been four months without a ford truck(drivin' a Chevette) too long.

Recently bought a 1999 F150 regular cab long wheelbase 2wd with the 4.2 and an auto trans.

It's developed a bump in the font end at all speeds feels like it's coming from the drivers side tire. The tire clunked side to side. anyways after a tie rod end a pitman arm and an idler arm the the tire is solid but the bump is still there.

The tires are new and all the front end parts were checked and greased and the oldest steering/suspension part is from 06 right down to swaybar endlinks.

the truck has the worst warped brake rotor i have ever experianced. On the drivers side, I'm beginning to think that either the brake must be dragging at least enough to create a bump. Just running out of parts that haven't been replaced and I hate spending $$ in vain. Any ideas?

Sorry for the long post I did try searcing first though, lol
thanks all!

 

If the rotor is that badly warped I would replace it. If you can I would also rotate the tires if you haven't.

 

yeah I plan on replacing it on monday if the rain stops might replace both depending on the price I'll at least replace the pads on both sides.

The tires really haven't been on there long enough to bother rotating.

Driving the truck today it it seems like the caliper might be loose or maybe the bracket slightly bent as it clunks some when it comes to a complete stop that can be felt on the steering wheel. I just really don't want to go out in the rain.

 

Pads won't fix a bad rotor.
You can do one at a time, so do the worst rotor first if you have to do just one. Have a 18mm 6-point socket and a 1/2" drive breaker bar to get the caliper bracket bolts if possible, a cheater pipe for a 3/8" drive bar/ratchet at least.

 

I would think the suggestion to Rotate the tires was to see if the bump follows the tire/rim.

You said it developed the bump, was it OK when you got the truck? If that is so, in classic problem solving, look carefully for what happened just prior to the bump being noticed.

 

Tires have been swapped from side to side but not rotated, bump stayed in the drivers side. I didn't notice it when I bought it or driving it home, not to say it wasn't there. It's really only noticable on good pave.

today the weather broke long enough to take the rim off and turn the rotor by hand and one section of it dragged on the pads so I could barely turn it(me being 6'3" and in decent physical condition) A couple "gentle" taps with a hammer knocked some of the rust off and the bump has definitally changed.

Sorry, I had meant replace the bad rotor and change pads on both sides(since they come in boxes of four) However after having a closer look I'll be replacing pads and rotors both sides tomorrow, rain or shine.

maybe when that's fixed the real problem will become more apparent

 

Bought brake rotors today 12mm studs just like the rear pulled a rim off and noticed my rims take 14mm studs. (P.O. replaced the rusty origionals) The only 14mm rotors I can get have the ring for the ABS.

Q: will the ring clear the factory dust shield, Can it be removed easily(is it pressed on?), or would I be better off buying 12mm rotors and pressing in 14mm studs, like the rear will need.

I really think between that and the rotor it might be the problem, I've had the tires rotated now front end checked by two mechanics and nothing really seems to be wrong.

With buying rims as an absolute last resort how would you fix this?

 

The ring clears on my 2000 (the replacement rotor had the ring even though my truck doesn't have ABS). Try a rotor on yours without greasing anything or installing the seal so you can just slip it on. No conflict? No problem.

BTW, my wifes 97 has around 200K miles with 12mm studs and 14mm wheels. No problem, and we've inspected them every time we removed them (like last weekend for a rotor change when the rotors finally, after being cut twice, wore out to the point of severe warpage!).

I'd use whatever rotor was handy. I didn't even bother getting 14mm stud rotors. I might have some 12mm wheels I need to use one day. We don't overtorque our lugs.

 

hi, it took months to track down the clunk on my 4,2, it ended up being the wishbone bolts being loose. it was the bolts that hold to the chassis, torqued them up and it has never come back. it may be worth checking. good luck bokker.

 

that sounds crazy enough that I'll hafta check it out, I'm really damn near the point of just ignoring it on average/below average pavement it's not noticable drove 100km yesterday and didn't feel it. I just happen to be lucky enough to have 14km of newer pave between me and work.

Sounds good about the wheel studs I think I'll return the 14mm ones and go with the 12mm. At least that way my center caps will fit and I won't need to carry two wheel wrenches. Thanks all, now I'll go deal with the next disaster.